Duchy of Franconie

---- The Duchy of Franconie , ( Herzogtum Franken in German), was one of the original duchies of the Holy roman Empire, founded with the Xe century. With the XVIe century, it became one of the ten circles of old the empire of Germany, between those of Bavaria, Souabe, Low-Rhine-Westphalia, Haut-Rhin, Saxony, Lower Saxony, Austria, Burgundy and the electoral Cercle of the Rhine. The Cercle of Franconie was one of the least important for the extent, but one of most flourishing of the empire.

It had as a capital Nuremberg and contained évêchés of Bamberg, of Würzburg, Eichstsedt, the control of the Ordre Teutonique with Mergentheim, the princely States of Brandebourg - Bayreuth, Brandebourg- Ansbach, Henneberg - Schleusingen, Henneberg- Rœmhild, Henneberg- Schmalkalden, Lœwenstein - Werthheim, Hohenlohe - Waldenbourg, the imperial cities of Nuremberg, Rothenbourg, Windsheim, Schweinfurt, Weissenbourg, in addition to several counties, inter alia that of Hohenlohe.

History

At the 5th century this region formed the center of the Royaume of Thuringe. In 527, it was conquered by the Francs, which named it franque Thuringe, then " Francie orientale" (717), in opposition to the " Francie occidentale" or Rhenish; finally, at the 10th century, one indicated it under the name of Franconie, which is only one derivation of the preceding term.

It formed starting from 902 a duchy whose owners made themselves independent early. One of them, Conrad, was elected King de Germanie in 911, and left its duchy to his/her brother Éberhard, killed in 939 with the Bataille of Andernach.

Conrad Wise the succeeded to him in the duchy and perishes in 955, as a combatant the Huns. In 1024 Conrad II Salic the, 6° duke of Franconie, was elected emperor and became thus chief of the imperial house of Franconie which, after him, gave three more sovereigns to the empire: Henri III (1039), Henri IV (1056), Henri V (1106 - 1125).

As for the duchy of Franconie, Conrad II had yielded it to his/her cousin Conrad the Young person; but this prince, being revolted against him, was stripped of his States, and the duchy was allocated to the emperors. Henri V while dying bequeathed it to Conrad de Hohenstaufen, emperor in 1138. This one left it after its death with his/her son Frederic de Rothenbourg, from where it passed initially to Conrad, wire of the emperor Frederic Barberousse; then with Philippe, which was emperor in 1198.

This last, by its liberalities, put an end to the existence of the duchy of Franconie by parcelling out it in several strongholds which became Sovereign states. The duchy did not remain any more since nominally; the remains were conferred by it on the Burgrave S of Nuremberg, but the title remained with the bishops of Würzburg.

In 1387 the emperor Venceslas Ier of the Holy roman Empire gave the name of Thuringe-and-Franconie to the one of the 4 circles in which it divided Germany, and in 1512, Maximilien Ier of the Saint Worsens formed of Franconie one of the ten final circles of the empire.

During the War Thirty Year old, one tried one moment to reconstitute the duchy of Franconie in favor of the duke Bernard of Weimar.

In 1814 most of Franconie échut to the Bavaria: it formed the circles of there High-Franconie, Low-Franconie and Franconie average; the remainder was divided between the Wurtemberg, the Grand-duché of Bade, the Hesse-Electoral and the Hesse-Darmstadt, the Prussia and the duchies of Saxony, which still have it at the 19th century.

See too

Franconie

Source

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